EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING ON SME GROWTH: A CASE STUDY OF METAL FABRICATION APPRENTICESHIPS ALONG KATIMA MULILO ROAD, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

Effective identification and mitigation of factors affecting small and medium enterprise (SME) growth is critical for economic development and employment of youth in urban informal economies. The study investigated the impact of entrepreneurship training on SME growth in informal metal fabrication apprenticeships along Katima Mulilo Road in Lusaka, Zambia. The specific objectives were to examine the effect of training on financial literacy, investigate the impact of training on business management practices, identify barriers and enablers to training application and examine the moderating role of demographic factors. A mixed-methods case study design was employed with a purposively sampled 70 youth-led SME operators. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews and analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and thematic analysis. Results show a strong positive association between entrepreneurship training and financial literacy: trained respondents were significantly more likely to budget, track expenses, and reinvest profits (p < .001). Training also boosted business management practices such as costing, inventory control and client engagement. The main barriers to implementing training were capital constraints (60.0%), gaps in mentorship (25.7%) and limited market access (14.3%) while peer support (54.3%) and access to tools and workspace (50.0%) were the strongest enablers. Age, education and business experience significantly moderated application training (p <.05). The study concludes that a comprehensive entrepreneurship training program, sensitive to the context and providing enabling resources such as access to capital and mentorship, can significantly improve the operational and financial capabilities of informal metal fabrication SMEs in Zambia